Prayer Shaming

A facebook friend sent me a video made by school kids lamenting the phenomenon of ‘prayer shaming.’

The video’s argument goes like this: Terrible things are happening in the world. Why does God permit such horrors? Answer: Because we have pushed God out of our world. Even the prayers of believers have been vilified. It is time for ‘people of ALL faiths to stand together’ against these bullies who have stifled prayer and angered God.

That sounds shocking. Atheists and God-haters are repressing prayerful believers and causing God to permit these horrors? Let me fetch my torch and pitchfork so I can join the mob!

But wait a minute. Isn’t prayer a personal conversation between believers and their God? Is anybody preventing personal prayer? Is that even possible?

Of course prayer can also be collective supplication. Is anyone preventing believers from praying together in the sanctity of their churches, temples, chapels, or mosques?

Not at all. Then what is the problem?

The public space. Dig a little deeper and you will find that until quite recently the public space was used to promote a Christian Gospel of Wrath that threatened eternal damnation for all unsaved sinners – which encompassed all non-Christians – and ranted against Christian sinners: drinkers, gamblers, dancers, divorcees, freethinkers and homosexuals.

Would Disciples of Wrath stoop to exploit naive school children in their ‘culture war’ to regain control of the public space? Would Disciples of Wrath deviously enlist the support of people they believe their God has condemned to hell?

Think about the central argument. Did God prevent terrible things like plagues, pestilence, and natural disasters from happening back when the Christian Gospel of Wrath ruled the public space?

If they don’t know the answer, these school kids should read Voltaire’s Candide.